What does it mean to be a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset? In the book Mindset – The New Psychology of Success author Carol Dweck breaks down the meanings of a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is when a person sees their failures as being an unsuccessful person. These fixed mindsets do not aim to challenge themselves due to the possibility of not succeeding or being seen dumb. They are discouraged by failing and hold back in life. Carol Dweck describes this has unhappiness. A growth mindset is a person who welcomes failures and takes these failures as a challenge to grow from their mistakes. They have the drive to push through the impossible, since to them there is no impossible. A Clear representation of growth …show more content…
mindset that is described by Carol Dweck as the key to happiness. “Having passed one rigorous test after another, they think of themselves as special, as people who were born smarter and braver than other people (Carol S. Dweck, 2006).” These are the people who cannot handle failures in life and shut down when they do fail. One could say this is insincerity! Another daunting fact to this whole smarter and braver than others, since I can pass all the test, is that we as a society has permitted these tests to define our education system. We make a child take a test to prove what they have learned or how “smart” they are, compared to their peers. Isn’t this creating a fixed mindset in our education system? While test anxiety is an issue for many of us it does not prove that one is smarter or braver than another, nor does one who has more success than anyone else.
My favorite question that Carol Dweck ask in this book is “If you are somebody when you are successful who are you when you are not successful?” Those moments of failures show a person’s true appeal. The growth mindset means that an individual will give more effort in solving problems in life. Looking at the story by Kiley Bales “I Can Fly” is short yet direct. When I looked at this picture, I saw a bird who wanted to learn how to fly. Each picture is an exemplification of his growth mindset. While failing more than once and even twice the bird still challenged himself to solve this problem. When asking my son Jacob, who is ten years old to look at this story and tell me what he thinks, I was happy to see that he has a growth …show more content…
mindset. These next set of questions and replies is my son describing have he views the story of “I Can Fly”.
Jenny asked, “On the first picture what do you see?” Jacob replies, “I see a bird who wants to learn to fly. The bird then draws pictures so he can figure out ways to fly. This picture the bird has the fan so he can learn how to fly; the wind is pushing him, and he can stay in one place and learn. Now he has the air glider thing that way he could also fly different ways and then once he can do that he can fly. Now he has a rocket booster so he can learn how to fly fast, and now he has crashed in all of them. The birds that can fly are laughing at him, and it makes him sad. Then I ask do you think he will give up? Jacob replies, “No since he does not care what others think and now he is trying to make a new machine so he can fly. He made an airplane so now he can fly, and the others will not laugh at him. The bird is happy at first he was sad now he is happy. Jenny asked, “Why do you think he did not give up?” Jacob replies, “He knew he could not fly so he built machines so that he could
fly.” Listening to Jacob explain how he observed the story was interesting. I found that he leaned towards the positive ways, then the negative. Jacob is always smiling, and he always is confident in what he does. Furthermore, listening to his point of outlook proves that happiness is the key to life when a person chooses to have the growth mindset. I was proud of his response, and while I figured he would have some insightful thoughts, I did not expect him to see that the bird did not give up after he failed. Mindset and “I Can Fly” is an unlimited source to have and to refer to when you do feel unsuccessful. Even though I did not finish the entire book, I did find myself inspired by what Carol Dweck had to say. I also found the story of the bird inspiring; which was unexpected since it was pictured. Like they always say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” These images were worth a thousand words.
After reading Failure is Not an Option by Nathan Wallace, we ponder whether failure is beneficial or not. However, after reading the passage, we stumble upon a quote where Wallace says “Failure is always an option. Failure can lead to great learning and progress when a specific failure is analyzed through the lens of a growth mindset.”
It was not until I read Carol S. Dweck’s “Brainology” that I realized I had a fixed mindset. I care more about getting a 4.0 than actually understanding what I am being taught and I also hate struggling. These habits are part of having a fixed mindset. It was after reading this article that I discovered I could change my mindset and be successful. Having a fixed mindset means that you believe that you and others only have a certain amount of intelligence. A growth mindset on the other hand, is believing that everyone has the ability to reach a higher level of intelligence through effort and hardwork.
“There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs,” was said by motivational speaker and American author Zig Ziglar. This relates to Carol S. Dweck’s article “Brainology” and Sherman Alexie’s essay “Superman and Me.” Ziglar, Dweck, and Alexie all feel that it isn’t easy for someone to become successful. It takes hard work, perseverance, and the want to learn and grow. In Dweck’s article, she stated that someone with a growth mindset would become more successful and knowledgeable than someone with a fixed mindset, which was demonstrated by Alexie in his essay, and by a personal experience of my own.
People with growth mind-sets often believe that one can succeed simply by trying and having the motivation to do so. On the other hand, those with fixed mind-sets believe they are either good or bad at something, while attempting something for the first time. If one can easily do math while another can’t, the one who can’t accepts it and doesn’t feel the need to try succeeding further because they’re just not good at it in the first place.
In the Brainology article, professor Carol Dweck put forward two mindsets: fixed mindset and growth mindset. That is an educational project that was instituted by Carol Dweck and made her famous for. That is talking about transforming student’s motivation to learn found out that people have fixed mindset or growth mindset all have profound effects on their motivation, learning and school achievement. From this article, this is particularly designed to help students break all boundaries and limits set by negative learning perspectives, while also instilling self-confidence is fixed, that each person has a certain amount and we call this a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset makes challenges threatening for students, and it makes mistakes and failures
As far as I could remember I was never really any good at school. I couldn’t concentrate on things for no more than 5 minutes at a time I would either get discouraged or find it too easy and just give up. An author by the name of Carol Dweck wrote an article called “Brainology” in it Dweck describes that there are two types of mindsets fixed and growth. Those who are afraid to fail so they never try anything new are ones with a fixed mindset and the growth mindset are those who are not afraid to fail and find a new challenge an opportunity to learn something new. I guess you can say that I had a bit of a fixed mindset growing up I was always too scared to look stupid that I didn’t want to fail because I didn’t want to disappoint my siblings
A growth mindset is the belief that you can learn anything you want without a limit. You will not give up and face any challenge in life until you overcome it. A fixed mindset is the belief that you can learn till you reach a certain point. Also, that you will not succeed in life and as soon as you come across a tough challenge you will let it bring you down and won’t ever get back up or face that challenge. Since reading “Brainology” by Carol Dweck, I discovered that I have a growth mindset and fragments of a fixed mindset my whole life.
How did I, a student who could barely receive a passing grade on any essay, become a student who believes that mastery in writing is achievable? The switch in beliefs roots back to my mindset. Specifically having a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. A person with a fixed mindset believes that their talents and characteristics are carved in stone. There is no point in pushing yourself forward because what they have, is what they got. On the other hand, we have a person with a growth mindset. Those with a growth mindset believe that talents and characteristics are not something they were born with, but rather something that they can work towards. What they have is just a starting point. For several years I
Suddenly it felt real. This egg was alive. I quickly checked the rest of the group. There were little bean babies in all of them.” Juli Baker has a growth mindset in the book Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen. A growth mindset is somebody who sees the good in the bad.
Carol Dweck developed this idea at Stanford University. “Growth mindset” builds grit in kids. In the video, “The Power of Passion and Perseverance/ TED Talk, Duckworth maintains that “When kids read and learn about the brain and how it changes and grows in response to challenge, they’re much more likely to persevere when they fail, because they don’t believe that failure is a permanent condition.” In making this comment, Duckworth urges us to challenge ourselves and keep motivating ourselves to do better even when we fail. She wants us to be grittier. This evidence supports my opinion because the grittier you become the better you
Individuals view and react differently to situations and challenges in life, the direct effect of having a Fixed mindset or a Growth mindset will coordinate our response . The Fixed mindset is believing our qualities are unchangeable and that the genes we are born with are all that can accomplish, people with the Fixed mindset view a situation or challenge as a negative and as a direct measure of their competence and worth.
Have you ever thought about yourself if you are in the fixed or a growth mindset? A fixed mindset person is someone who overcomes obstacles, works hard, and failure does not stop them. On the other hand a person who is in the fixed mindset is someone who is non challenge, gives up, or thinks that success is abuse. In a book called “Mindset The New Psychology of Success” the author Carol S. Dweck talks about different ways we can convert ourselves from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset and the author also talks about the qualities of the growth and fixed mindsets. In a movie“Freedom Writers” the author Erin Gruwell shows us how she was a growth minded teacher but her students were in the fixed minded group. Throughout the school year the students had a fixed mindset but as time went by the students somehow their mindsets into the growth mindset. Freedom writers illustrates the fixed mindsets of the teacher and students and a growth minded teacher who changed everything.
To have a growth mindset means to be able to accept your mistakes and learn
"Those with growth mindsets reported that, after a setback in school, they would simply study more or study differently the next time" (Dweck 2) . Students in a growth mindset understand that failures are temporary setbacks. That means they must be an effort in the learning process more vigorously. Dweck shows, " Those with fixed mindsets were more likely to say that they would feel dumb, study less the next time, and seriously consider cheating "(Dweck2). By contrast, students with a fixed mindset believe strongly in innate ability. Those get a failure, they would simply think they are not smart enough ,all their efforts has been wasted. As a result, that creates a desire to give up rather than trying
These mindsets have a large impact in our lives including my own! Even though a growth mindset is the ideal mindset, I consider myself to have more of a fixed mindset than a growth mindset.